The Night Prayer — the Believer’s Shield
When the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) faced times of difficulty, he rushed to Prayer for calm and tranquility. It is an example that people of faith have turned to throughout religious history. There are certain secrets that spiritually successful people engage in. They are secrets not because no one knows about them, but because they are done when no human is there to watch. They are done, in fact, when most of humanity sleeps. The Prophet said that the Prayer most beloved to Allah, after the five obligatory Prayers, is the Qiyam al-Layl Prayer (Night Prayer Vigil), an act of worship in which one forsakes his or her sleep to engage in a sacred rite before the Lord and Maker of the universe. It is done in the solemn parts of night, when the angels patrol the earth looking for those special souls who wash themselves and stand in Prayer reciting the Book of God, the Quran.
 The Night Prayer was an established part of the Prophet’s night that he never neglected. ‘Aisha said the Prophet always maintained the Night Prayer, even when he was sick, in which case he prayed while sitting. In the Quran, the people of Night Prayer are praised in a powerful way: And in a portion of the night, rise therein for Night Prayer--an extra act of devotion for you. It may be that your Lord shall raise you to praiseworthy station (Quran, 17:79). The believers are those who forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and hope, (Quran, 32:16).
 The Prophet said that Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven, when only one third of the night remains. He says: “Who will invoke Me, so that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said also, “There is an hour of the night which no believer encounters and asks for a good thing for this life or the Hereafter, but that Allah grants it to him.” This happens every night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “May Allah have mercy on one who rises at night, Prays, and wakens his wife for Prayer.” The Prophet was once asked, “When are the supplications most acceptable?” He said, “In the watches of the night and at the end of the prescribed Prayers.”
 Qiyam may be prayed after ‘Isha’ Prayer up until Dawn. It is preferable to sleep before rising for Qiyam, so as to discipline’s one’s soul and to develop a love of worship over the love of sleep. The traditional number of rak’as to pray is eight, although the best number is that which one is able to do consistently. It is preferable to recite out loud at a moderate level. The Qiyam Prayer is performed in units of two rak’as. One may recite of the Quran whatever he or she may wish. It may be long or short passages, with preference to that which allows one to make Qiyam a regular act of devotion. The Prophet said that the best of deeds are those that are done consistently, even if the deeds are small. Qiyam is something that requires commitment to. To pray it intermittingly—one night here and one night there—is, as one scholar said, like digging for water, staring in a new spot each time and never getting deep enough to find anything. It is better to rise at night for ten minutes on a regular basis than to stay up for hours one night and sleep through the next nights.
 Scholars have enumerated many benefits of the Night Prayer—benefits that include strengthening one’s faith, sharpening one’s mind, building patience, finding success in what one does, closeness to Allah (the God of the heavens, the earth, and all of creation), success with one’s family, relief from worries, improved health, calmness of heart, and many more.
 The Night Prayer vigil, like other acts of worship, is a gift that can be taken away by such things as backbiting, gossip, slander, consuming unlawful food, earning illicit wealth, and so on. A person who has established an excellent regimen of worship may suddenly find himself unable to continue because of something he had done. When this occurs, the worshipper makes repentance and restores his practice.